Pronunciation

How to pronounce “audacious

“audacious” is pronounced /ɑˈdeɪʃəs/ (ah-DAY-shuhs) in American English and /ɔːdeɪʃəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ac”.
The sound

Say “audacious” in 3 beats

Say it like this

audacious

/ɑˈdeɪʃəs/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɔːdeɪʃəs/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. audɑ
  2. acdeɪstress
  3. iousʃəs
IPA (American)
/ɑˈdeɪʃəs/
IPA (British)
/ɔːdeɪʃəs/
Respelling
ah-DAY-shuhs
Syllables
3 — aud-AC-ious
Stress
Stress the second syllable: aud-AC-ious. “ac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ɑˈdeɪʃəs/

British

/ɔːdeɪʃəs/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “audacious” means

  1. adjective

    invulnerable to fear or intimidation

    audacious explorers

  2. adjective

    unrestrained by convention or propriety; ; ; - Los Angeles Times; ; ; - Bertrand Russell

    an audacious trick to pull

  3. adjective

    disposed to venture or take risks

    audacious visions of the total conquest of space

Say it in a sentence

It was an audacious plan, and somehow it actually worked.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

audacious”, answered

How do you pronounce “audacious”?

“audacious” is pronounced /ɑˈdeɪʃəs/ (ah-DAY-shuhs) in American English and /ɔːdeɪʃəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ac”. Build it as aud-AC-ious, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “audacious” have?

3: aud · ac · ious. The beat lands on the second, “ac”.

Is “audacious” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɑˈdeɪʃəs/ (ah-DAY-shuhs); British English says /ɔːdeɪʃəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “audacious” mean?

As an adjective: invulnerable to fear or intimidation For example: “audacious explorers” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “audacious”?

Stress the second syllable: aud-AC-ious. “ac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “audacious” and see every sound

Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.